Brake-beam



s. A. C RONE. BRAKE BEAM.

APPLICATUN HLED DEC. 15. 1920- 1 ,387 ,7 68 Patented Aug. 16, 1921 INVENTOR.

Jud/ f ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATES SETH A. GRONE, OF EAST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY.

BRAKE-BEAM.

Application filed December 15, 1920. Serial No.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SETH A. ORONE, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of East Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brakeeams, of which the following is a specification.

The invention pertains more particularly to trussed-beams and especially to novel means for securing the strut to the C0111- pression member of the beam. It is important that the strut be securely connected with the compression member in a manner which will be convenient and secure and not weaken said member.

There has been difficulty in properly securing metal struts to the compression member of brake beams, and frequently the strut at one end has transversely encompassed the compression member, as by yoke or loop, and been secured thereto by riveting, as shown in Letters Patent granted to me June 8, 1915, No. 1,142,498. The punching of a hole in the compression member to receive the securing rivet for the strut results in the weakening of the beam, since the strength of the beam is governed by that of its least cross-sectional area. In other instances the strut has been secured against the compression member by bolts and clamps and in other instances by bolts and keys, and in accordance with my invention described in Letters Patent N 0. 1,272,778 dated July 16, 1918, the strut was secured to the compression member by means integral with the strut and engaging the compression member with binding effect.

My present invention comprises improvements on the brake beam disclosed in my aforesaid Letters Patent 1,272,778 and on the brake beam disclosed in Letters Patent No. 1,142,498, granted to me June 8, 1915, and the invention resides in a novel, wedge plate to be driven between the outer edges of the flanges of the compression member and the adjacent surfaces of the strut, said wedge plate having toothed surfaces to intimately engage the adjacent surfaces of the strut, and the plate as a whole being adapted to be driven to position by a hammer and to withstand buckling or other distortion due to the driving of the plate between the edges of the compression member and the adjacent shoulders on the strut.

The invent-ion will be fully understood Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 16, 1921.

from the detailed description hereinafter presented, reference being had to the accompanylng drawings, in which:

F igure 1 is a top view of a portion of a brake beam equipped with a strut and securing means embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, the compression member of the beam being shown in transverse section;

Fig. 3 is an outer face view, on a larger scale, of the wedge-plate employed by me for securing the strut to the compression member;

Fig. 4 is an end projection of the same taken from the left hand edge of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an end projection of same taken from the right hand edge of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 is a side projection of the same taken from the lower edge of Fig. 3.

In the drawings 10 designates a channelshaped compression member of a brake beam, and 11 the strut which, in my case, made from a single bar of forged metal forming the two integral sides 12 to receive, at the openings 13, the brake lever pin and providing at its folded middle port1on a yoke or loop 14 which extends transversely upon and closely receives the channel member 10. At their front ends the sides 12 are equipped with acap 15 of known construction to receive the middle portion of the usual truss-rod or tension member, not shown. The deflected or angularly disposed sides 12 ant yoke or loop 14 of the strut are of familiar construction and design, and hence require no specific description. -The deflection of the sides 12 results in said sides adjacent to the beam 10 having an angular relation to said beam and in diagonally opposite portions 8, 9, respectively, of said sides being brought inwardly within the horizontal planes of and opposite to the edge surfaces of the upper and lower flanges of said beam, and it is at these two diagonally opposite portions at which, by means of my invention I interlock the strut and compression member together with binding effect.

The means employed by me for securing the strut and compression member in fixed relation to each other consists of a wedge plate 16 shown in detail in Figs. 3 to 6 inelusive and in operative position in Figs. 1 and 2. The wedge-plate 16 has a width equal to the width of the compression member 10, and on one face is formed incent edges of the beam tegrally with guiding ribs 17 to enter between the flanges of the beam 10, as shown in Fig. 2, said ribs 17 being indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and connected at the forward end of the plate by a transverse shoulder 18 which adds strength to the wedge-plate and aids in preventing the buckling thereof during the time the wedge is driven to position between the strut and the compression member. On its outer or obverse face the plate 16 is formed at one end with a shoulder 19 which will receive the blows of the hammer employed in driving the wedge to position, and on said obverse face of the wedge-plate 16 and at opposite sides thereof are integrally formed wedges 20, 21, said wedges being on planes offset from each other and the wedge 20 being longer than the wedge 21 and set inadvance thereof, and both of said wedges be ingtransversely grooved or serrated, as at 22.

The wedge 20 projects beyond the forward edge of the plate 16, and its outline in'edge elevation is shown in Fig. 6. The wedge 21 extends laterally at its outer edge beyond the adjacent edge of the plate 16, this being due to the formation of the diagonally disposed portions 8, 9 of the sides of the strut. The plate 16 is one integral casting and the inclined Or wedge surfaces thereof are con fined to the wedge parts 20, 21, the other portions of said plate having flat edges.

1 In the employement of my invention 1 do not modify the construction of the compression member 10 or of the strut 11, but make use of the wedge plate locking the strut and compression member together, of the invention I apply the reverse face of the plate 16 against the edges of the flanges ,of the beam 10, the ribs 17 being disposed between said flanges, as shown in Fig. 2, and, by means of a hammer directed against theshoulder 19 and adjacent portions of the the diagonally plate, drive the plate between disposed portions of the strutand the adj a- 10, the actionof the plate 16 on being driven home, being to tightly bind the loop or yoke 14; against the compression member, no further means for connecting the strut and beam 10 being reuired. The wedge 20 at first enters be ween the strut and compressionmembermore or less freely because at the point of entrance for the wedge 20 the edge 7 of the side of the strut is, as shown in Fig. 2, substantially free of the compression member 10, while at the opposite edge 8 of the same side of the strut, said edge 8 passes within the horizontal' plane of the upper flange of the compression member, and it is at this poitionof the side of the strut that the wedge 20 performs its duty, engaging the upper flange of the compression member and the adjacent surface of the side of the strut 11 and entering gages the adjacent diagonal portion 9 of "closely adjacent beam 10, so that, looking at Fig. 2, the wedge,

16 as the means for and in carrying out this feature .ciency, of the wedges 20, 21 in t to, secure by into such firm engagement with such side of the strut as to partly mutilate the metal thereof and to such extent that the metal becomes forced into the serrations 22 of the wedge. The wedge 21 is offset rearwardly from the plane of the wedge 20 and is, adjacent to the rear portion of the plate, offset downwardly beyond the lower side edge thereof, and this wedge on the application of the plate 16 to position immediately enits side of the strut 11 since said portion 9 at the point of entrance for the wedge 21 is to the lower flange of the 21 engages the adjacent diagonal portion 9 of the lower side of the strut at the entrance point of theplate 21 between the strut and the compression member, while the wedge v2O engages the edge of the diagonal portion 8 of the upper side of the strut. The sides 11 are set at the diagonally opposite portions 8, 9, as is well-l nown, due to the twisting of the members of the bar, within the horizontal planesof the flanges of the beam 10, while at their other diagonally opposite portions. as at 7, said sides extend outwardly from the horizontal planes of the flanges of said beam, and due to this disposition of the said diagonal portions ofthe sidesof the strut adjacent to the beam 10, I offset the wedges 20, 21 so that both of said wedges, when the plate 16 is being driven home, simultaneously engage those portions '8, 9, respectively, of thesides 11 of the strut which lie within and are opposed to the horizontal planes of the flanges of the beam. The wedges 20, 21 act substantially simultaneously and with a corresponding operation, as they are intended to do, in binding the strut and compression member in fixed relation to each other, and the plate .16 is of strong construction permitting it to be driven home with the blows of ahammer applied agalnstthe end of the same, so

doubt as tothe effieperforrnthat there may be no ance of their duties. i

The serrations on the wedges 20', 21.a1d in securing an interlocking of the wedges 'with the adjacent portions of the strut and in preventing any loosening of the plate 16 due to the jars towhich brakemechanisms are usually subjected. The plate16 becomes securely held at 21 andalso bythe lateral pressure. exerted against said wedges by the strut and by the pressure with which the plate is bound against the compression member 10.

. What I claim as my invention and desire Letters Patent, is: I j 1. In a brake beam, a flanged compression -member, a strut formed of a forged metal folded bar encompassing said compression member and deflected angularly adjacent to said flanges to form angularly disposed the faces of the wedges 2Q,

parallel sides for the brake lever, and a se curing plate driven between said flanges and the adjacent angular portions of the strut and having at opposite sides on one face thereof wedges engaging the diagonally opposite inwardly turned portions of the strut.

2. In a brake beam, a flanged compression member, a strut formed of a forged metal folded bar encompassing said compression member and deflected angula-rly adjacent to said flanges to form angnlarly disposed parallel sides for the brake lever, and a securing plate driven between said flanges and the adjacent angular portions of the strut and having on diagonally opposite portions of one face thereof wedges, one being in advance of the other, engaging the diagonally opposite inwardly turned portions of the strut.

3. In a brake beam, a flanged compression member, a strut formed of a forged metal folded bar encompassing said compression member and deflected angularly adjacent to said flanges to form angularly disposed parallel sides for the brake-lever, and a securing plate driven between said flanges and the adj acent angular portions of the strut and having on diagonally opposite portions of one face thereof wedges, one being in advance of the other, engaging the diagonally opposite inwardly turned portions of the strut, and said plate having on the opposite face thereof parallel portions projecting inwardly between the flanges of the compression member.

4. In a brake beam, a flanged compression member, a strut formed of a forged metal folded bar encompassing said compression member and deflected angularly adjacent to said flanges to form angularly disposed parallel sides for the brake lever, and a securing plate driven between said flanges and the adj acent angular portions of the strut and having on diagonally opposite portions of one face thereof wedges, one being in advance of the other, engaging the diagonally oppo site inwardly turned portions of the strut, and said plate having a shoulder at one end to receive the blows of a hammer used for driving the plate to position.

5. In a brake beam, a flanged compression member, a strut formed of a forged metal folded bar encompassing said compression member and deflected angularly adjacent to said flanges to form angularly disposed parallel sides for the brake lever, and a securing plate driven between said flanges and the adjacent angular portions of the strut and having at opposite sides of one face thereof diagonally disposed wedges formed with serrated faces engaging the diagonally opposite inwardly turned portions of the strut.

6. In a brake beam, a flanged compression member, a strut formed of a forged metal folded bar encompassing said compression member and deflected angularly adjacent to said flanges to form angularly disposed parallel sides for the brake lever, and a securing plate driven between said flanges and the adjacent angular portions of the strut and having at opposite sides of one face thereof diagonally disposed wedges formed with serrated faces engaging the diagonally opposite inwardly turned portions of the strut the forward wedge being projected beyond the forward edge of the body of the plate, and the other wedge being extended later ally beyond the side edge of the body of the )late.

I Signed at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 13th day of December, A. D. 1920.

SETH A. ORONE. 

